MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #14): Special welcome to any MNers stuck at home who need escapist boxset recommendations

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the Kdrama-curious. (MsLatte is a Her Private Life reference.) Most of our viewing is drawn from Netflix and Viki, with a sprinkling of Dramabus (non subscription, maybe dodgy) and AmazonPrime. 

The previous thread is here but our ‘Addicts Recommend’ list below is cumulative so includes recommendations and favourites from all previous threads.


Shows marked with an asterisk are more uniformly loved or admired. In categorising series, its important to note most Korean dramas have multiple strands - e.g. supernatural, romance and a thriller; crime series with fantasy elements. Genre-busting mash-ups are normal. Series that are tagged as dark may also have moments of comedy or the absurd, likewise fluff can have heavier moments. View the categories below as best approximate & ask if you need guidance, eg about suitability for younger teens.

Comedy (with a side order of absurd)

I picked up a celebrity on the street (Viki)
My Fellow Citizens (Viki)
The Fiery Priest (Netflix)

Crime/Thriller

Come and Hug Me (Dramafast)
Graceful Family (Viki)
Healer (Netflix)*
Heartless City (Viki)
He is Psychometric (Viki)
I Hear Your Voice (Netflix /Viki)

Life on Mars (classy remake of BBC series, Dramafast)
My Secret Terrius (Netflix)*
Signal (Netflix)*
Suspicious Partner (Netflix)*
The Lies Within (Netflix)*
Tunnel (Netflix)*

Historical/Period drama (“sageuk”)
100 Days My Prince (Viki)
Crowned Clown (Viki)*
Mr Sunshine (Netflix)
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung (Netflix)
Tale of Nokdu (Viki)*

Romance - lighter & fluffier
Beating Again (Netflix)
Coffee Prince (Netflix)
Don’t Dare to Dream (Netflix, or as Jealousy Incarnate on Viki)*
Gogh, The Starry Night (Viki)

Happy Once Again (Netflix)
Her Private Life (Viki)*

His Master’s Sun (Netflix)

Love from a Star (Netflix)*
Pinocchio (Netflix)
Radio Romance (Netflix)

Romance is the Bonus Book (Netflix)*

She Was Pretty (Dramabus/Netflix)*
The Beauty Inside (Viki/Netflix)
The Secret Life of My Secretary (Viki/Netflix)
Thirty Not Seventeen (Viki) or as Still 17 (Netflix)
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (Netflix/Viki)
What’s Up With Secretary Kim (Viki)*
Where Stars Land (Viki)*
You are my Destiny (Netflix)


Romance - heavier weight/more grown up themes

Another Miss Oh (Netflix)*
Because This Is My First Life (Viki/Netflix)*

Chicago Typewriter (Viki/Netflix)*
Crash Landing on You (Netflix)**
Descendants of the Sun (Viki/Netflix)
Doctors (Netflix)
Fight For My Way (Viki/Drama bus)*
Go Back Couple (Viki)
I’ll Go To You When The Weather is Nice (Viki - currently airing)

Just Between Lovers (Viki)*
Melo is my Nature (Viki)/Be Melodramatic (Dramafast)
My Strange Hero (Viki)
One Spring Night (Netflix)
Red Carpet - film (Netflix, very adult content)
Romantic Dr Kim - seasons 1&2 (Viki)
Search: WWW (Viki)*

Something in the Rain (Netflix)
The Package (Viki)



Straighter ‘Slice of Life’ dramas on universal themes
Live (Netflix)
My Mister (Viki)**
Prison Playbook (Netflix)*

Stove League (Viki)

Supernatural/zombies/vampires/fantasy/sci-fi - lighter & fluffier

Extraordinary You (Netflix)
Goblin (Viki)*

I am not a Robot (Netflix)
Legend of the Blue Sea (Viki/Netflix)
My Holo Love (Netflix)*
Orange Marmalade (Netflix)

While You Were Sleeping (Viki)*



Supernatural/zombies/vampires/fantasy/sci-fi - darker/more grown up themes

Black (Netflix)*
Hotel del Luna (Viki)*
Kingdom (Netflix)*

The Guest (Dramafast)
Train to Busan - film (Amazon Prime)

W: Two Worlds (Viki & Netflix)*



Guilty Pleasures (for the joy, not the quality)
Bride of Habaek (Netflix)
Hwarang (Viki/Netflix)
The Last Empress (Viki/Netflix)
Sassy Go Go (Netflix)



Mad as a box of frogs/uncategorisable

Strong Girl Bong Soon (Netflix)

Not Korean but just try it
Regulars occasionally branch out into Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese drama. The Chinese & Taiwanese stuff is much more variable quality-wise, so we’ve noted anything decent here:

Before We Get Married (Viki - Taiwanese)
Go Go Squid (Viki - Chinese)
Instead of Tipsy Why Not Get Drunk (Viki, Chinese)
Love O2O (Viki - Chinese)
Morning Call (Netflix - Japanese)
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Netflix - Chinese)
Tientsin Mystic (Netflix, Chinese)

Thread Regulars’ Top 5 Dramas of 2019
(courtesy of Hello’s kdrama spreadsheet, scores range from +10 if very good to -10 for truly awful)

1. Her Private Life - 9.40 (5 votes)
2. Melo is My Nature - 9.00 (5 votes)

3.= Crash Landing On You, The Crowned Clown, The Lies Within, and The Tale of Nokdu - 8.75 (4 votes)

1. Hotel del Luna - 8.50 (4 votes)

5.= Romance is a Bonus Book, and Search: WWW - 8.17 (6 votes)

We are generally fans of all things Korean, so equally happy to talk about Korean cookery, language, film and music when the mood takes us.


We have a few frequently used acronyms:
FL/2FL = female lead/2nd female lead
ML/2ML = male lead/2nd male lead
SLS = Second Lead Syndrome (where the FL/ML is too dense to realise the 2ML/2FL is better)
🥾🍑 (boot, peach) = kick up the arse to go to bed



We also abbreviate titles if they’re long, but usually with an obvious abbreviation. Some favourite actors & actresses have been abbreviated for speed/efficiency, eg Park Min Young (PMY), Kim Jae Wook (KJW). Don’t be afraid to ask for help/clues if we’re not making sense or have descended into acronym soup.



If you want to join us down the kdrama rabbit hole, welcome! Pull up a chair, say goodbye to early nights and get stuck in…

I’m using the free bits of Lingodeer at the mo, so perhaps use both in tandem. Duolingo is quite good for firing stuff at you. The alphabet in Lingodeer was pretty easy because Duolingo has already beaten it into me.

Thanks hello Im heading to Duolingo now 👍

Agreed, SKJ’s hugs and attentiveness in Weather is equally reassuring.

Just waving hello and to put my 2p worth in about duolingo. I'm on a 114 day streak and I really like it. I don't really care about grammar being explained I'm picking a bit up as I go. I doubt I'll have much of a grasp on it all even if I get to the end, but it's fun. My cats are now known as the "tung tung kowangis" (that's the best I can do for the sound) means fat cats, and everyone in the household calls them that now.

Ep 10... Weather... Oh! I love his sister! 🥰❤️ She's a joy!... And I'm blubbing over the bike... It's the isolation! The isolation! 😭😭

Wow 114 days sophie that's amazing! I'm on 11.

🖐️🖐️Hello Sophie! 😂

I might pull out my old notebooks and start studying again. You can all be my accountability team! Well, only if you all agree that drama watching counts as a viable study method?

Notebooks!? Straight to top of the class hello...! 😂

I have a premium account with Korean class101 so I use the PDFs and videos for listening. It's been great,especially the way they break down the sentences so you have beginner, then intermediate and so on. If I'm on a binge I can now mostly follow without relying on the subs that much, but I have pulled out my folders again. My sister speaks a little for work, so I practice with her because it's not as embarrassing to make mistakes.

Seeing as I’m nearing the end of Extraordinary You, what next for a fluffy, diverting boxset? Nothing still airing please.

@pagansophie tung tung kowangis I don’t know why I love that so much but I do!!! 🤣🤣👍

boatyard I’m on ep 3 of You're my Pet on Viki Jdrama and rather enjoying it!

Mind you I keep thinking of Mood Indigo when I look at 2ML which is disconcerting 🤭

Our dog is lovingly called 멍멍이 when she's being cuddly and nice. More usually called 야아아아!

I am doing duolingo but also bought the book Korean from zero which has filled in a lot of the gaps

hello I’ve had too much gin to work that out....

bettys it's the cute, kids word for puppy and the latter is YAAAAAAAAA!

Yeah, my cats get sworn at in Korean and Russian. DS has decided that learning how to say 'I don't speak (language)' is going to be his thing to do during this time. He has got Japanese, Korean, Russian, Bulgarian, Polish, French, Spanish, Swedish and German do far. He has unfortunately learned how to swear in Korean from the various cop dramas that we watch (for bonding, I promise I don't take him hostage!) and he works with a Bulgarian guy who is teaching him Bulgarian and Russian. We decided that we would learn BSL but he spends too much time laughing at mine and DDs freaky fingers (hypermobile) and I can't get my head around what my fingers are meant to be doing.🤔

DS1 is using lockdown to learn Japanese. He’s driving us mad counting to ten in Japanese at every meal at the mo.

Thanks hello 😆🐶

Yay I've managed to catch up with Weather.... SKJ is just beautiful.... And he had a pair of jeans on that were practically skin tight by Weather standards. I loved his sister yelling and finding out more back story.

SKJ is so lovely and he’s showing off the beautiful knitwear wonderfully. I’ve even got used to his peasant chinos, which seem strangely fitting now none of us are leaving our homes and are gradually embracing the comfy leisurewear end of our wardrobes. The fact that almost nothing happens in Weather except for reading under blankets, pouring coffee, drawing your community closer and staying within a km or two of home is in tune with the current vibe. They didn’t get the memo about cancelling community events & social distancing, but otherwise it is very harmonious telly for these low key times.

It's nice to watch other people in a similar predicament instead of the incredibly high action scenes of people drinking in pubs and soju bombs.

monkeywench your son and I share a similar approach to being a polyglot. You've got to start with the most useful sentence! I love language learning. It's so fun to open up a whole new section of the world

hello my basic phrases are 'where is the toilet/bar/restaurant ' and 'Gin and tonic/glass of wine please'. Apparently my priorities are fed, watered and comfortable 😂 the rest can be mimed 😂😂

I can’t disagree with a single word in Monkey’s previous post - comfort and liquids in equilibrium are priority for me too. 👍

I have now finished Extraordinary You - it gets a solid 8 for Hello’s spreadsheet from me. I loved FL’s longing and grief for the disappeared Ha-Ru and her desperation to live, plus lovely, lovely emoting Rowoon and his all encompassing hugs. If they’d managed to trim all the boring high school nonsense down and get it into 10 hours, I’d probably give it a 9. FL and Rowoon were 9.5 worthy, but spoiled by the rest of it dragging so much.